Using Colorful Dog Kibble, Artists Turn ‘Mona Lisa,’ ‘The Scream’ and ‘The Kiss’ Into Museum Masterpieces That Man’s Best Friend Can Appreciate

Sisters from New Jersey spent two months recreating famous artworks while also making sure their dog didn’t get into the edible art supplies

Michele Debczak | Correspondent

May 29, 2026 2:16 p.m.

Share

Copy linkEmailSMSFacebookXRedditLinkedInBlueskyPrint

Add as preferred source

Since reopening in Midtown Manhattan a few years ago, the American Kennel Club’s Museum of the Dog has displayed photographs, paintings and artifacts celebrating our four-legged companions. The latest exhibition may be the first that’s just as interesting to canine visitors as it is to their human owners. From now through June 9, the museum is hosting “The Art of the Breed,” an installation featuring iconic works of art recreated in kibble.

Sisters Lauren and Samantha Treadwell of Old Bridge, New Jersey, brought the project to life in collaboration with the pet food brand Royal Canin. “We’re painters, so this was kind of like the learning curve of like how mosaic artists use glass and break and move it into different pieces and make different shapes,” Samantha Treadwell tells Kemberly Richardson of ABC7 Eyewitness News.

Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, Johannes Vermeer’s Girl With a Pearl Earring, Edvard Munch’s The Scream and Gustav Klimt’s The Kiss were among the paintings they chose to reinterpret from a list of famous artworks. It took the artists roughly 60 days to paint the kibble and arrange and preserve it using stucco and polyurethane—all while keeping it away from their dog, Charlie.

“He wanted the food. He would look at us and be like, ‘can I have a little,’ with those puppy eyes,” Samantha Treadwell tells ABC7.

Visitors who come for the kitsch may find themselves impressed by the real artistry that went into the offbeat homages. Laura Ratliff writes for TimeOut New York, “While the concept sounds absurd, the finished pieces are surprisingly detailed. From a distance, the works look like traditional paintings. Up close, visitors discover that the shading, color variation and texture come from meticulously placed kibble pieces designed for different breeds.”

There is one original piece displayed among the recreations: a portrait of a corgi.

The AKC Museum of the Dog’s history in New York City dates back to 1982, when it opened in the organization’s offices in the New York Life Building on Madison Avenue. Five years later, the original museum shuttered due to financial troubles and a lack of space and reopened outside of St. Louis. Its home was the Jarville House, a 19th-century mansion in Queeny Park, which had more space for exhibits, but the more-remote address saw fewer visitors. In 2019, the AKC moved the museum again—this time to its current location on Park Avenue back in New York City.

Some highlights from the museum’s most recent chapter include exhibits dedicated to presidential dogs, working dogs and canine couture. For visitors looking for a unique way to spend the day with their pets, dogs are welcome in the museum on Fridays and for select events. Otherwise, only service animals are permitted during museum hours.

“The Art of the Breed” is on display at the AKC Museum of the Dog in New York City now through June 9.

Michele Debczak | Read More

Michele Debczak is a writer and editor based in Brooklyn, New York. She appears in seasons four through six of History Channel’s “The Food That Built America,” and her work has been featured in Mental Floss, IndieWire, Eater and Vice.